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Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduced by six percent in the second quarter of 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
According to a report which was released on Monday, Oil GDP contracted by -6.63 percent from 5.06 percent in the first quarter and 5.15 percent in the second of 2019.
Non-oil GDP was also reported to have contracted by -6.05 percent from 1.55 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and 1.64 percent in the second quarter of 2019.
This is the first time in three years that Nigeria’s economy will record a negative growth after its exit from the 2016 recession.
“The decline was largely attributable to significantly lower levels of both domestic and international economic activity during the quarter, which resulted from nationwide shutdown efforts aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The domestic efforts ranged from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement implemented in only a few states to a nationwide curfew, bans on domestic and international travel, closure of schools and markets etc., affecting both local and international trade.
“The efforts, led by both the federal and state governments, evolved over the course of the quarter and persisted throughout,” the report said.
It said when compared with Q2 2019, which recorded a growth of 2.12 per cent, the Q2 2020 growth rate indicated a drop of 8.22 per cent, and a fall of 7.97 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2020 (1.87 per cent).
“Consequently, for the first half of 2020, real GDP declined by –2.18 per cent year on year, compared with 2.11 per cent recorded in the first half of 2019. Quarter on quarter, real GDP decreased by –5.04 per cent. Furthermore, only 13 activities recorded positive real growth compared to 30 in the preceding quarter,” it added.
The Nigerian economy, which emerged from its first recession in 25 years in the second quarter of 2017 when it posted a 0.7 per cent growth, had continued its slow recovery since then.